A Manual for Surviving a Weird World

Chapter 393 Re-entering the Sheepfold
On the highway, Ning Zhe made a phone call to Lan Shiwen and said two sentences:

"First, there's a ghost in the office buildings in the old city of Yundu. Tell your people to be careful and not to sleep in front of it."

"Secondly, if I'm not mistaken, Fenwu is coming to kill you, so don't die."

After finishing explaining these two things, Ning Zhe hung up the phone without giving the other party a chance to speak. At this moment, rows of golden rice fields flashed past the car window, bringing a slightly sweet fragrance with the scent of grass. Yanglao Village was almost there.

“It’s terrifying ahead.” Bai Zhi gazed at the verdant mountains below the overpass through the car window and said softly, “There’s a ghost approaching us. I can feel its anger. It’s very, very, very angry right now.”

“We are the ones getting closer to Him,” Ning Zhe corrected. “But your hunch was right; it was indeed a very angry, very furious ghost.”

Its name is: Mad Fire.

It was a maddening flame, imprisoned in the deepest part of the seventh level of the ghost realm in Yanglao Village. This flame seemed to be composed of endless anger. Anyone who approached the flame would be overwhelmed by the rage, lose the ability to think rationally, and eventually have their body and spirit burned away by the endless rage, turning into a handful of pale ashes in madness.

Ning Zhe still remembered the title of the local earth god who was in charge of imprisoning the mad fire.

Its name is: 【Taiwei Xiyi Manifesting Sage True Lord Mighty Suppressing Demon Emperor】.

Feng Yushu turned the steering wheel to the left, drove the car off the highway, and headed towards the entrance of Yanglao Village based on her memory. However, she did not see the familiar path between two rice paddies. Instead, there was a flat asphalt road leading straight to a gray-white wall about 5 meters high.

“That is…” Feng Yushu slowed down the car and looked around at the familiar yet unfamiliar surroundings with curiosity.

“The isolation measures implemented by the Yundu authorities,” Ning Zhe said. “Ever since the last time the Mad Fire went out of control, Lan Shiwen contacted the Yundu authorities to designate Yanglao Village as a strictly controlled and sealed-off area. The wall you see now is just a facade; what truly serves as the containment measure is a granting item called the [Ink Line].

Ning Zhe's only inkwell was taken by Xia Yubing, and the ink left inside was only enough for one last use of the 'Divide' ability, so it was probably already used up.

“This isolation measure called the ink line… has very limited effect,” Bai Zhi said softly. “Even through the wall, I can still feel the intense heat of that ghost’s anger.”

“Not everyone is as sensitive as you,” Ning Zhe said, shaking his head. He had expected Bai Zhi to react this way.

Even the seven-layered ghost realm of the Earth God could only barely slow down the spread of the mad fire. In comparison, the sealing effect of the inkstone was not only negligible, but could at least be described as adding fuel to the fire.

"The people who built this wall didn't expect it to stop the spread of the mad fire. It was mainly to prevent outsiders from accidentally entering." Ning Zhe said helplessly, as if thinking of something. "Especially those online streamers who are willing to risk their lives for money. They'll go anywhere for traffic."

Bai Zhi wholeheartedly agreed.

As they were talking, the smooth asphalt road came to an end. Feng Yushu stopped the car outside the wall and asked, "Where do we go in from?"

"No rush, let's wait a bit," Ning Zhe said.

"Wait for what?" Feng Yushu asked, somewhat puzzled.

"Waiting for someone... She's here." Before Ning Zhe could finish speaking, the car window was suddenly shrouded in a gray mist, the golden rice paddies replaced by a vast expanse of shimmering water, and from the depths of the mist came the sound of rushing water. Thump—

An old wooden boat gently bumped into the gray concrete wall. Bai Zhi looked over at the sound and saw a thin, hunched old man wearing a straw raincoat standing at the bow of the boat, holding a yellowish bamboo pole with the tip of the pole deeply submerged in the water.

A white girl in a black dress jumped off the boat, her thick, smooth black curly hair adorned with a fresh, vibrant iris.

"Owner……"

Ning Zhe pushed open the car door and got out. Plumeria, lifting her skirt, ran into his arms like a fledgling swallow throwing itself into his embrace. The mist that had been spreading around them like smoke and clouds dissipated, the sound of water faded, and the small wooden boat that seemed to come from another world and the old man on it disappeared without a trace.

Plumeria clung tightly to Ning Zhe's waist, rubbing her soft face against his chest. After a while, as if suddenly remembering something, she quickly let go, took two steps back, and said nervously, "I'm sorry, Master. Are you... are you alright?"

"It's alright," Ning Zhe said calmly.

He appeared relaxed, but his heart was heavy. Luckily, he had the foresight to do all the auspicious things for today in advance. If it were anyone else, without the protection of great fortune, they would probably have died on the spot from that hug.

Feng Yushu turned off the car, got out, and looked at the exquisitely beautiful girl in front of Ning Zhe, who looked like a porcelain doll, with some doubt. Then she looked back into the car and said, "Azhi, wait a minute, Mom will go to the trunk to get your wheelchair..."

"No, no, don't..." Bai Zhi's trembling voice came from inside the car. Feng Yushu leaned over and saw her huddled in the back seat, her face pale, her eyes filled with fear, murmuring, "I don't want to, I don't want to get off the car... It's so scary, so scary, I don't want to get off the car, Mom, Mom, I don't want to get off the car, I don't want to..."

Feng Yushu felt so sorry for her that tears were about to fall. She quickly comforted her, "Okay, okay, Mom will listen to you. We won't get off the bus. Just sit here quietly, and Mom will stay with you."

After saying that, Feng Yushu turned around, holding onto the car frame, and subconsciously looked at Ning Zhe with pleading eyes.

Ning Zhe came to the car, bent down to look at Bai Zhi's condition, and after thinking for a moment, said, "She was probably scared by the ghost on Melia. How should I put it? That ghost was indeed terrifying."

...Especially for Bai Zhi, this ghost named [Fenwu] might have some special significance.

Ning Zhe didn't say the second half of his sentence, but just patted Feng Yushu's shoulder gently: "I'm going to Yanglao Village with Plumeria next. You stay here and look after Baizhi."

"And," Ning Zhe pointed to the ground, "make your shadow follow."

"I understand." Feng Yushu nodded obediently, climbed into the car and sat in the back seat, holding Bai Zhi's delicate hands in her hands, her eyes full of concern.

Ning Zhe turned and left, returning to Plumeria's side. He took her hand, and the two walked together along the wall into the distance.

On Ning Zhe's body, between the layers of his coat and shirt, a dark shadow was quietly curled up.

(End of this chapter)